Leo Woodall and Ambika Mod in ‘One Day’ on Netflix.
One Day is premiering on Netflix just in time for Valentine’s Day. The 14-episode romantic drama series is about two best friends who fall in love When Harry Met Sally style.
The story revolves around Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall) over 20 years, beginning with their first encounter on July 15, 1988, the night of their graduation. They spend an interesting evening together, going their separate ways the next morning. Their story, however, is far from over.
The two embark on a friendship that eventually leads to love. Each episode picks up on this one ordinary day in each of their lives the next year, and the year after that. The viewer sees snapshots of their relationship as they deal with disagreements, missed opportunities, and reconciliations. As the years pass, the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed.
In an interview, Mod discussed how multi-layered this tale is. “I hesitate to call One Day a love story or a romance because I think it’s so much more than that.”
Mod was very familiar with Emma and Dexter; years before auditioning for the role, she’d read and loved David Nicholls’ New York Times bestseller, “One Day,” on which the series is based.
Though American audiences know Woodall from his terrific performance in the second season of The White Lotus, Mod is a wonderful discovery. It’s as if the role was written for her.
“It was a dream come true to play this part,” she said, adding she never imagined she’d ever have a chance to audition for it. “I didn’t think I was anything like her. I’m a brown girl…I just didn’t think it was going to happen.”
She felt they were humoring her by having her send in a taped audition. “I thought I was never going to get this. I re-read the book and I was like, ‘I’m similar to Emma. There’s no reason why I couldn’t.’ But it took me a long time. I went into the shoot convincing myself that I deserved to be there.”
Mod was cast roughly two months before Woodall, who laughed as he admitted he had not read the book prior to auditioning, but had watched the 2011 movie version starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. When he knew he had a chance at being cast, he then dove into the book.
“It was a very rigorous audition process with a lot of long and tough scenes,” Woodall explained, adding that he too had moments of self-doubt that he’d be cast.
Mod and Woodall agree that the construct of One Day is unique in that the episodes are separated by large gaps of time, allowing for their characters to grow and change significantly per episode.
“It’s rare to be able to play the same character over 20 years. Every episode was like its own movie. There is a degree of isolation between each episode,” explained Mod. “When we were filming, we didn’t have to think about the episode before or after it. Each existed in its bubble in a way. So, that was new structurally. It was a massive challenge but the writing was so good and I think the timing of the story unfolds in a way that just felt natural.”
Woodall concurred. “Whenever we came back into the story it felt seamless and that’s because of the writing.” Talented actors love the challenge of a character that undergoes an arc. For Dexter, he starts as a young man without a care in the world. He suffers many hard knocks along the way, however.
“From Dexter’s point of view, true love was the one thing remaining in his life after all the mayhem that he chose to put himself through. He realized that the thing that mattered was being with the person that he wanted to be around all the time, which he knew was Emma. He wasn’t seeing it at the time because he was distracted and young. He goes off a bit and then realizes that companionship is one of the most important things in life.”
When asked what she learned about love while portraying Emma, Mod paused briefly. “It’s not dramatic. It’s not grand. It’s rooted in friendship. Everyone’s definition of love is different, but I think the book and series show that nothing ever works out perfectly. Nothing ever happens seamlessly. Emma and Dexter both get where they need to be after a lot of failure, heartache, and joy. It’s real life.”
Mod praises Nicholls’ beautiful writing. “I think this is why the story connects to so many people. This book is just life. It’s about relationships – all kinds of relationships – not just the relationship with Emma and Dexter. It’s about growing up but not in this saccharine coming-of-age way. It’s about the realities of growing up, how growing up is incredibly disappointing, how you fail in ways you wouldn’t have envisaged, and how life doesn’t turn out the way we envisage for ourselves when we’re 22, wide-eyed, and in university. People can revisit this story as they get older and take something new away from it every time.”
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
